Provenance
I have an advantage over a lot of track officials when it comes to pole vaulting. I “became” a pole vault coach in 1983 out of necessity. I was a young (really young, and really “confident”, looking back at it) high school head boys coach, with a good pole vault program, and no one to coach it. So I determined to learn everything I could about the event. I travelled around the country to “hot beds” of pole vaulting, the Marshall Goss years at Indiana University and with Bill Falk (of MF Athletics fame) in Rhode Island. Ultimately I found my pole vault “mentor”, Mark Hannay and the amazing Slippery Rock Pole Vault Camps that went on for close to two decades. My coaching skills were honed through thousands of camper vaults, and hundreds of hours of pole vault theory lecture, discussions, arguments, and even experiments.
So I’ve been around pole vault a long time. And I’ve seen a lot of pole vault poles. When I started, my kids jumped mostly on Catapoles, first “Black Cats” and then, “Catapole Golds”. They were bendy, and they were in our school colors (that seemed like a big deal back in those early years). But boy, did they break. We were going through five poles a year, and the “pole vault coach” versus “head coach” in me conflicted over budgeting. So in the mid-1980’s we switched to the more durable and advanced Pacer III pole. It didn’t “vault” as forgiving as the Cats, but when you got it right, the vaulter got shot vertically off the top.
What I didn’t know then was the guy making the Pacer III’s was Steve Chappell. And when AMF/Voit (yep, the bowling ball guys) sold Pacer poles to Gill Sporting Goods and moved the pole factory to Illinois, Steve stayed in Carson City, Nevada and joined with Lane Maestretti to start a new business in company with the pit manufacturer, UCS. Spirit Poles took the best of the Pacer III design and made it even better, and soon came to dominate the industry. It took me about a decade to change all of our school poles into Spirits, but by the early 2000’s we were all-in.
Still Vaulting
The last of the Pacer III’s were made in the early 90’s. Since that time, a lot of the pole vault rules changed, including the “weight rule” for high school and youth vaulters, and the handhold band rule setting the maximum height on the pole the top hand can go. In order for the Pacer III’s to be “legal” under today’s rules, Pacer issued a “weight band” to go on the pole, and specific instructions as to where on the pole it should be placed. I don’t even know if Pacer does that for Pacer III’s anymore, since it’s not really a pole they made. I don’t think Spirit would do it either. Sure, their ancestry made the pole, but it was over three decades ago.
This past week was the Regional competition in Ohio High School track and field, the meet to qualify to the State finals this week. I was the pole vault official at two Regionals, and I worked the State meet as well. So I was surprised to see several Pacer III poles for inspection and check-in, poles old enough to be used by the parents of today’s vaulters (maybe even the grandparents).
I don’t know of any “shelf-life” for pole vault poles, as long as they aren’t scratched or otherwise damaged. But, unless the coach has gotten “legal” labels for the poles, they aren’t “as is” acceptable. That was a surprise for some coaches, because officials throughout the year have accepted the pole for competition. Here’s how.
Pacer III’s have a “label” placed underneath the final gel-coat of fiberglass. That label has the weight and length information about the pole. But, from observation, those labels are located varying distances from the top of the pole, and weren’t designed as a “top handhold” band in the definition of the high school (and USATF youth) rules. Besides, those “labels” don’t have the weight listed in numbers the right size. But, to an official who doesn’t have a career around pole vaulting, I get how it “looks” right.
Official Issues
So here’s my problem as an official. It’s the Regional meet, the most intense meet in Ohio track and field competition, where “making it to State” is a primary goal (at State, minimum goals are already achieved). All year long, officials have “certified” the pole as legal. I can see their markings on the bottom of the pole. Now, almost randomly, because I “know more”, can I take this pole out of the athlete’s hands?
So I made a compromise with myself. I made each coach aware of the problem, that the “weight band” requirement was NOT satisfied by the internal label. And that should they qualify to state – unless they got an actual weight band, that pole would not be allowed. Meanwhile they had to treat the internal label like a handhold band, regardless that it was sometimes lower or higher than other Pacer’s or Spirit poles. And with one exception I allowed those poles into competition. It only seemed fair – now they have “fair warning” for the State.
The one exception was the one Pacer III with the internal label marked as a “121-140” pole. That made it a “variable weight” pole, specifically made illegal by high school rule. Even if I accepted the internal label as the “weight-band”, the pole was still unacceptable, and I refused to allow it. Lucky for the vaulter, it was more of a “warmup” pole than a needed competition one. Either way, it was out.
And then there’s a second issue that I don’t want to confront until after the state competitions. Some of the weight bands on poles wear out after hundreds of vaults. As an official, as long as I can discern what weight it is, I’m OK with the label. But some you simply cannot.
So coaches are supposed to contact the manufacturer and get a new band. There’s engravings on the pole, that can be deciphered and a new label sent out (here’s the link – NFHS). I don’t see Pacer III’s listed by anybody – but I guess those coaches will try. But they need to get a manufacturer to take responsibility for the label.
Phony Labels
And there’s something else going on. Somebody, or somebodies, are making the “own” labels. Again, most officials don’t know the difference, and “homemade” labels versus the actual manufacturer’s label. The question then becomes: do we expect officials throughout the year to be able to identify the “provenance” of the labels? Is that reasonable? Or are “counterfeit” labels just one more issue in some future lawsuit?
And what about the officials who actually recognize the difference? Where do they stand in that future lawsuit?
I don’t have the answers – just a lot of questions. But it’s all really about making the event, the schools, coaches, and even the athlete more responsible for safety. And it asks the question, who enforces the rules: State Associations, schools, coaches, athletes. Is it only the officials?
Here’s a quick addendum the day after the State Meet. Our officiating crew examined literally hundreds of poles (I made the “official” labels – went through 36 pages of 30 labels a page – over a thousand). We had to retape several poles, but I only disqualified one pole in the entire competition. That one was a Spirit pole with the label moved up to within two inches of the top of the pole (Spirit pole labels are six inches from the top, and this one had a center label oddly close to the bottom of the pole – potentially a “cut” pole). I disqualified it based on the label position. I don’t blame the coach checking it in. It was a borrowed as a back-up pole. He’s a stand-up guy (I’ve known him for over forty years). But his vaulter didn’t use that pole.
And the Pacer III’s that showed up? They all had labels on them, from where I do not know.
Ohio Pole Vault Safety 